CHARLOTTE - North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough said he wasn't trying to get to the free-throw line when he was fouled Friday afternoon with 16:08 to play in the game.

But several teammates said they were relieved that he did.

After going three consecutive halves without shooting a freebie, Hansbrough's six second-half trips to the foul line helped the top-seeded Tar Heels re-establish their inside-out offensive comfort zone and beat No. 9 seed Florida State 82-70 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

Carolina (30-2) will play No. 4 seed Virginia Tech (19-12) at Charlotte Bobcats Arena in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. today -- with the hope that its ACC Player of the Year will find himself at the line a whole lot more.

"It really made me happy to see him shoot free throws today," wing forward Marcus Ginyard said. "Obviously, because he works so hard under there, and deserves to get to the line a lot. ... But also that's because of our game plan -- get it down there, get fouled, get easy points."

At Duke last Saturday, Hansbrough -- whose 321 free-throw attempts led the nation at the end of the regular season -- went 0-for-0 from the free-throw line for just the second time in his career, mainly because the officials held their tongues (and whistles) for both teams on both ends of the court.

Friday, he had eight points by halftime, but zero trips to the foul line, because the Tar Heels were attacking more from the perimeter than from the lane, a real no-no in coach Roy Williams' scheme.

"We settled too much for outside jump shots in the first half, as opposed to getting the ball inside by dribble or pass," Williams said.

The coach got so angry with his team's failure to go hard to the basket late in the first half that he stripped off his jacket after Danny Green missed a breakaway dunk, then went up too soft for Williams' liking on the put-back attempt.

That changed quickly after the break.

With the Tar Heels leading 36-30, Hansbrough scored in the lane and was fouled by FSU's Ryan Reid. The free throw -- which resulted in a three-point play and a nine-point lead for UNC -- marked his first trip to the line since the last time Carolina beat the Seminoles, on March 1.

About two minutes later, FSU's Toney Douglas made a 3-pointer to cut UNC's lead to 41-35, but Hansbrough countered with two more free throws after he was fouled on another aggressive move.

Then, after FSU's Julian Vaughn scored from the line to cut it to 43-38, another three-point play by Hansbrough kicked off a 10-2 UNC run.

And even though the Tar Heels allowed FSU to shoot 55.2 percent in the second half and failed to outrebound an opponent for only the third time this season (the teams both had 30), the Seminoles never really threatened again.

Florida State guard Jason Rich led all scorers with 23 points. His team is 1-11 in ACC quarterfinal games, and by failing to win the tournament, they are almost certainly headed to the NIT.

"I think that if we won the game today, it would have padded our resume," said coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team dropped to 19-14. "I think [the NCAA Tournament] is a long shot at this point."

Guard Wayne Ellington chipped in 19 points for UNC, while Ginyard added 10. Point guard Ty Lawson, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Feb. 2, when he sprained his left ankle at Florida State, finished with eight points and three assists.

Hansbrough, whose 16 teammates entered the tournament with 490 free-throw attempts combined, led the team with 22 points. Eight of those came from the line -- a place where Hansbrough usually ends up if the Tar Heels inside-out strategy is working.

"I wasn't really focused on it," Hansbrough said. "If I get the ball inside the way we attack, I think it just happens. It's not a situation where I constantly try to get fouled. It is just something that happens."